Kiri no Kitsune
by darkestdepths90
Summary: Formerly Kitsune in the Mist. Naruto learns of Kyuubi after an attack. He gets fed up with how he's treated and leaves but not before taking two important things from the Hokage's office. FemHaku. Don't own Naruto
1. Chapter 1

A four-year-old Naruto stands in the Hokage's office at just passed mid-night, staring at a scroll that bares his name. **'Kit, you should get moving, a patrol of ninja could come at any moment.'**

'Yeah.' He sticks the scroll and a small piece of a large jutsu scroll into the duffle bag that hung on his shoulder. Inside said bag was clothes, weapons, and supplies he had _acquired_ from the stores he had been literally thrown out of. He then pulled a kunai and piece of paper from his pocket and stuck it to the desk with said kunai before heading out the window. He moves through the shadow as he made his way towards the eastern wall, as he continued, he couldn't help but think back to how he had met the voice that aided him.

**Flashback: One Week Prior**

The young blond was running from a large mob of villagers and some chunin. But being such a young child, they caught up with him, and it also didn't help that he turned into a block alleyway. They beat him into unconsciousness, and a chunin went in to finish him. The scene the Sandaime and Anbu came across was reduced to a crater with Naruto at the center, kunai still stuck into his stomach with a long deep gash across his belly. The Anbu moved around to see if any of the others around him were alive as the Sandaime rushed to Naruto. The boy was still breathing, but it was labored and the wound was gushing blood.

"Get a medical ninja here now!" A kuma **(Bear)** masked Anbu nodded and disappeared. "Hold on Naruto." He gently removed the kunai and was about to administer the limited medical jutsu he knew when red chakra burst from the wound and sealed it with a small amount of smoke raising from where it had been. A seal was clearly visible on the on the boy's stomach, he could still see the near invisible line that had been the gash, it went through the seal and end just outside of it where the kunai had been.

The Anbu had found that every one of the assailants were only unconscious and had taken them all to have a very _special_ session with Ibiki Morino, the head of the Torture and Interrogation Departments. One Anbu slowly walked up behind the Hokage, taking in the damage done to the surrounding area. "Sir, what do you think happened here?"

"One of them dragged a kunai through his stomach right across the seal, my guess is that its chakra that was trying to heal him erupted and caused a shockwave, but if that's what happened, why did no one feel such a release of energy? The seal isn't broken, so this was an accident or at most an act of defense." The aged Hokage picked up the young blond and took off towards the hospital with the remaining Anbu close behind.

--

Naruto opened his eyes to find a sight like nothing he had ever seen, unseen flames flickered light upon walls of stone that were so high the ceiling was shrouded in darkness. But the thing that caught his attention was the two large gate doors that were slightly ajar, but still held together by a piece of paper with the kanji for seal on it. Behind said gate, he could see movement in the darkness, and being the curious, but cautious child he was, he moved towards the gate. Two large glowing red eyes appeared just beyond the gate and Naruto jumped in shock. "What are you, and where are we?"

"**We are in your mind. And I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune."** Naruto fell on to his butt and started to scoot backwards. A sharp-toothed grin appeared next. **"Normally I would take your fear as a compliment, but you don't need to fear me, I won't hurt you."**

"Why are you here, Ojii-san said that the Yondaime killed you. And for that matter, why am I here?"

**"The simple truth is you were lied to. The Yondaime couldn't kill me, no mortal has the power to do so, so instead he sealed me into the one thing that was able to hold me, a newborn baby, you."**

"So that's why I'm treated badly?"

**"I sorry to say it is, but I'm afraid that that isn't the most pressing matter. As you can see the seal was slightly weakened in the last attack, that is why you are here. Because it's weakened, my chakra is flooding your body, unless the seal is strengthened, your body won't be able to handle the stress."**

"What do you want me to do, I don't know anything about seals."

The fox chuckled. **"I don't expect you to. There is another way, I can direct the chakra that is already in your body to strengthen it so you can withstand it, but I need your permission. It won't be much, just enough to insure your survival."**

"What will happen to me?"

"**Like I said, your body will strengthen, there may be visible changes as well, but it will be painful. It's up to you, if you choose to get the seal strengthened, it will have to be soon."**

"I don't know, Kyuubi, what should I do?"

**"It's up to you kit, but if I were in your position, I would take my offer, simply because there is no guarantee that there is someone who can strengthen the seal or that they'll be able to in time. But the question is if the pain is worth what you'll get from it, that only you can answer."**

Naruto become uncharacteristically quiet for several moments before looking the fox in the eyes. "Alright, but should I tell Ojii-san?"

**"That's also up to you kit. No matter what you decide, I'll support you, but I will be giving you my opinion on some matters. Now brace yourself, this is going to hurt."** A thick red mist came through the bar and surrounded Naruto before it tightened around him, slowly becoming like a second skin, that was when the screaming started. He spent the next three days unconscious in a hospital bed, sedated, and with an Anbu in the room at all times, normally Kuma. (A/N I don't know what his real mask is, but so you know it's Yamato. It doesn't really matter, it's just so I can say this.) Of course they didn't tell him, but he was letting off a small amount of yokai that they wrote off as his healing ability. He didn't speak a word to anyone about that night, and the Sandaime didn't pressure him to.

His visible changes were minimal, his whisker marks became a little wider and the base of his hair took on a red tint. His other changes were harder to get use to, his hearing and sense of smell had enhanced to the point that they were only slightly less than an Inuzuka. His eyesight also got better, now he could see perfectly day or night. On top of that, the rest of his body was working better, his muscle become stronger, but he could also think more clearly.

**Flashback End:**

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he hears mumbling and curses. His curiosity once again getting the better of him, he goes to see what's going on, what he finds, is a man wearing a Kumo hitai-ate with someone tied up and thrown over his shoulder. As the man walked, the person flopped around, and for a brief second, he saw a face. His eyes went wide, he had seen the girl before. Whenever he went to the playground, she was the only one to not look at him with hatred, but whoever was with her wouldn't let him even talk to her.

Unknown to him, his eyes turned red as he pushed off of the branch he stood upon, straight at the man. He smashes into the man's leg, sending him to the ground and the girl into the air. Naruto catches the girl and sets her against a nearby tree, his back to the man as he gets backs to his feet. "You damn brat, how dare you attack me!"

"You are attempting to kidnap the heiress of one of Konoha's clans. But that doesn't matter to me, what does is that she is different from the others here, a saint among sinners."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Why should I tell someone who is about to die?"

The man starts to laugh. "You think you can kill me?"

"No I don't." The man's laughing stops as Naruto turns his head, revealing glowing red eye. "I know I can."

Without any sign of movement, Naruto disappears. The man snorts. "He talks big and then just run away."

"Who says I'm running?" The man didn't even have the time to turn around before he was sent back to the ground a few feet away.

The man stared at him in shock. 'He's just a brat, how the hell did he do that?'

"What's the matter, you were so confident before." The man's shock gave way to anger of being taunted by the boy. He stood up, and charged in blindly. He tried to grab Naruto, but the boy evaded every attempt and planted his right fist into the man's gut. He went crushing to the ground again.** "Is that all you've got? That was pathetic."**

The man could feel Naruto's killing intent rolling over him in waves, and he couldn't move a muscle due to his fear. The glow of Naruto's eyes grew to a darker red as his voice deepened and dripped with malice. 'What is he?' Then the voices came, they were close, but he couldn't make out what was being said.

Naruto looked towards the source. "You got lucky, the Hyuga are looking for her." Naruto disappeared again as two Hyuga men ran into the clearing.

The two look exactly the same except that one had a bandana around his forehead. "Where is my daughter?!" The Kumo nin's hand shook as he pointed towards the girl. Her father went to her and untied her as the other man approached the Kumo ninja.

The Kumo nin got to his knees and bowed before them. "Thank you, that boy was going to kill me."

The man approaching him stopped. "What boy?"

"The blond boy with glowing red eyes and the voice of a demon."

"Hizashi, take him to the Hokage." The father glared at the man. "You _will _tell him everything, or you death will be slow and very painful." Both man nodded and left as the father picked up his daughter. 'He couldn't be the one that man spoke of, why would that monster save her?'

The girl stirred in his arms. "Father? What happened?"

"I'll tell you in the morning Hinata, for now go back to sleep." She nodded and closed her eyes again as the man start home.

From up in a tree, Naruto watched them leave. 'Good thing they didn't use the Byakugan or I would have been found.' When he was sure that they were gone, he continued towards the wall. He reached the wall not long after, but instead of trying to go through the gate, he found the highest tree near the wall itself. Climbing as high as he could into the tree, he jumped towards the wall and when his feet hit the wall he stuck. 'Useful trick, thanks Kyuubi.'

He walked the rest of the way up the wall and down the other side.** 'You need to get moving kit, your helping the Hyuga girl will alert them of your absence sooner than we had planned.'**

'Didn't think of that.' He pushed chakra into his legs and took off like a bullet.

--

The Sandaime Hokage was walking towards his office, flanked by Kuma and Hizashi Hyuga. The old man sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Unless he has the Sharingan. Sir, if it's alright, I would like to check on my niece."

"Yes, of course. Thank you for informing me Hizashi." The Hyuga bowed before heading back the way they had come. The Hokage sighed again. 'When this gets out the council will demand his life, citing that Kyuubi really has taken over. If that were true, I doubt it would be saving anyone.'

"Sir, what are we going to do about this? Jiraiya should be contacted to examine the seal."

"The messenger was sent the day after the incident, and for now, we won't do anything. Tomorrow, I'll speak with Naruto, it could just be that he tapped into its chakra accidentally." He opened the door only to stop. "Get Kakashi and tell him if he's not here in ten minutes, I'm outlawing Icha Icha." If it weren't for the mask, the Hokage would have seen Kuma's eyes widen before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Hokage walked towards the desk and removed the kunai so he could lift the paper. What surprised him was the design of the kunai, it was glossier than normal, had kanji on the handle, and had three prongs.

The Sandaime's eyes were wide, as he hadn't seen a kunai like this since the Yondaime died. He lifted the paper and his eyes went wider as he read.

_Old man_

_I'm sick of the shit the villagers put me through, so by the time you read this, I'll be gone. I know you'll send someone after me, but it would be pointless, they won't find me and if they do, they won't catch me. 'He' is helping me, and a lot has happened in the last week._

_Naruto_

Sandaime fell backwards into his chair continuing to stare at the note. 'So he knows, can't say I blame him for leaving after what he's been through. He turned towards the window and looked at the craved face of the Yondaime. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect him better, or tell him the truth like you wanted." He turned from the window, he saw that the scroll vault was slightly open. He moved to it with speed unthinkable for a normal old man. He threw the vault open and the first things he saw were an open wooden box and a large scroll. On the top of the box were two spirals, one was like the spiral that was found on the back of the vests given to Chunin and Jonin ranked ninja except it spun in the opposite direction, the other had nine lines in the pattern of a whirlpool.

The old man smiled sadly as he lifted the box, only to have the large scroll unroll, revealing the torn edge and some of it's contains. His eyes were the size of dinner plates. "That's the Forbidden Scroll!" He knew every jutsu on this scroll, and in what order they had been placed. Quickly snatching it up, he begin to identify which had been taken. There were three missing, these three jutsu were in the top ten for most chakra usage. He was torn away from the scroll by a popping noise from his office. He took both the scroll and the box back to his desk. A man wearing a blue long sleeved shirt, pants, and facemask, was standing there at full attention. He had bandages from his ankles to the middle of his lower leg, blue shinobi sandals, sliver gravity defying hair, and his hitai-ate covering his left eye. "Sorry about the late hour Kakashi, but this couldn't wait."

"Sir, why did you threaten such an wonderful book that you yourself enjoy?" Setting down both objects, the Hokage turned to Kakashi.

"I'm sure you know of the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuga heiress Hinata." Kakashi nodded. "What you probably don't know is that the Hyuga weren't the first to find her, when they arrived, the Kumo nin was shaking in fear of someone that was no longer there. He told Hizashi that they had saved him from a boy with glowing red eyes, the voice of a demon and blonde hair."

"Naruto."

We assume so."

"That doesn't explain why I'm here, he saved her, but left when he heard the Hyuga coming. With everything that's happened, he's probably deathly afraid of most of the villagers." The Hokage picked up the note handed it to Kakashi, who's visible eye widened. "He knows? How?"

"I don't know, but I'm afraid there is more to it than that. There are three things that I have to show you." The Hokage walked back to his desk with Kakashi just behind him. "It seems that before his encounter with the Hyuga heiress, he took a peek at the forbidden scroll, he took three jutsu from it as well as the scroll that was in that box."

"Do you know which three they were?"

"Considering he ripped them off the scroll, yes. There were Kage Bunshin, Chidori, and Rasengan"

"And what was in the box, if you don't mind telling me of course."

The Hokage placed his hand on top of the now closed box. "If I tell you, it can not go beyond this office. Do I have your word as my subordinate to keep this secret until I deem necessary?"

"I swear it on my life."

The old man smiled and started forming the seals for the privacy jutsu. "Until a few hours ago, this box contain a scroll that held the village's greatest secret, even greater than that of Kyuubi, Naruto's heritage."

"I was under the impression that no one knew who his parents' identities."

"Only myself, Jiraiya, and Tsunade know because that was they wish. They both died fighting the fox, sacrificing themselves to defeat it. His mother came from a small country near the Mizu no Kuni, Kushina Uzumaki."

Kakashi eye bulged out. "He's sensei's son?"

The Sandaime nodded. "That note was stuck to my desk with a kunai, I wouldn't normally have been too bothered by this, but it wasn't a normal kunai." The old man held up said object and saw Kakashi's shock. "I felt the same way when I first saw it. I don't really care how he got them since they were probably gathering dust anyway. My concern however is if what I think is in that scroll is, he'll already have what he needs to use it, and it could be dangerous for him."

"What are my orders?"

"Find him and bring him to me. Try not to harm him, unless it's unavoidable. According to the Kumo nin, he can disappear without even making a blur of motion, so you may need to use that left eye of yours'. You have 72 hours, if you haven't found him by then, return. He would be too far gone by then."

"Yes sir. I'll leave immediately." He was gone in a swirl of leaves.

--

Naruto ran though the night until his body demanded rest and food. He stopped in a heavily wooded area and sat against a thick tree trunk, setting his bag beside him. He rummaged though it to pull out an M.R.E., he unwraps one portion and sniffs it before placing it in his mouth. He shudders at the taste. "I really got to find a village soon. These thing taste like crap, but it's better than nothing at the moment." Once he was done eating, he stuffed the trash into an unused side pocket of his bag and pulled out the torn section of the Forbidden Scroll.

**'I wouldn't try any jutsu until you leave Hi no Kuni Kit, your chakra might attract ninja patrols.'**

'I wasn't planning to, I figured I'd just read more about them for now.' He wasn't sure how, but he could feel that Kyuubi read along with him. He found it kind of funny that the hand signs were drawn next to two of the jutsu, but surprised that the third didn't.

_Kage Bunshin- B-rank, Supplementary- A solid clone, that appears in the same manner as the academy taught clone. Though they are solid and able to attack, they dissipate after they are struck. The chakra of the user is divided even, allowing for the clones to use jutsu. The clones will disperse when they're hit, they run out of chakra, when the user wills them gone, or, if given a separate task, they cancel themselves. While they will follow the original's commands, they have a will of their own, and can act independently of their creator. Because of this function, anything that they learn in their 'lifespan', the original learns when they dissipate, making their usage versatile. _

_Rasengan- A-rank, Offensive- Jutsu created by Minato Namikaze. This jutsu has no hand sign because it is pure chakra manipulation. Jutsu has many uses, one being assassination. As the name suggests, it's an orb of chakra that, when it hits, twists holes through whatever's in its path. The Rasengan itself is broken down into three steps, Rotation, Power, and Control. Must have mastered both tree climbing and water walking as the concepts of both are applied to using this jutsu._

_Step 1- Pop a balloon filled with water by spinning the water with chakra._

_Step 2- Do the same as Step 1 except with a solid rubber ball._

_Step 3- Apply Steps 1 & 2 inside an air filled balloon, without popping it. Once this is done, attempt to do the same without the balloon._

_Chidori- A-rank, Offensive- Jutsu created by Kakashi Hatake. An assassination jutsu recommended to using against a single enemy due to, as its name implies, creates the sound of one thousand birds chirping. A lightning based attack that surrounds the user's hand and acts as a spear. Requires high-speed movement to gain its piercing power, which in turn causes tunnel vision._

'What's tunnel vision?'

**'Exactly what is sounds like Kit, you don't see anything except what directly in front of you. That proves a problem as it leaves you vulnerable to the sides while you use it, and with the high-speed movement, you won't be able to do anything if someone crosses your path or if they counter. Unless you can predict their movements, this jutsu is basically worthless.'**

'Couldn't you or someone else teach me to read them?'

**'It is technically possible, but even then it's not completely reliable. Sorry Kit, but I suggest you reconsider learning that one.'**

'Then how could the guy that created it use it?'

**'He might not use it after learning about the tunnel vision, or it's possible he has a kekkei genkai that allows him to predict another's movement, if I remember correctly, Konoha's Sharingan can do that.'**

Naruto was shocked, but not for the reason most would think, well maybe they would. 'How did you know that?'

**'Just cause you didn't listen to the Hokage, doesn't mean I didn't.'**

'I don't remember him ever talking about it?'

In his mind, Kyuubi sweat dropped. **'You asked him, and I quote, 'What's up with the Uchiha clan's eyes' after spying on one of them training. Anyway Kit, I need to tell you that while the physical changes finished before you woke up after the attack, the chakra has been slowly settling itself out, it's almost done now, but there may be some pain as it finishes. It will most likely be while you're resting and not using chakra, any pain will be because of how quickly you had to adapt. That being said, you should rest now Kit, you still have a ways to go.'** Naruto nodded and pulled out a sleeping bag while returning the piece of scroll.


	2. Chapter 2

Kyuubi had woken Naruto up before ten as he still had a ways to go before he reached the borders of Hi no Kuni. Like the night before, he fed his chakra into his legs and a small amount into his eyes like Kyuubi had suggested an hour in, after a run in with a tree. The fox had told him that it would allow him to see slightly better at the speeds he was traveling, but he couldn't help but think Kyuubi wasn't telling him something. His reason for not confronting the fox about his suspicions was quite simple, he didn't want the one helping him to get angry and stop. So he just kept running.

Naruto had been running for three hour straight when the wind changed direction, coming at his back, and carried a weak scent. Naruto stopped for a moment to catch it before taking off again. 'Smells of dogs, but there's something about it. Kyuubi, does the scent seem familiar to you?'

It took a moment before Kyuubi replied. **'It does vaguely, but I can't recall who it is. An Inuzuka more than likely, they were probably sent to find you. Best step it up kit, if they're moving as fast as you, they're about two hours behind.'** Naruto nodded and added more chakra to his legs and eyes.

------------------------

Kakashi, with the help of his ninken, a pug named Pakkun, had found Naruto camp around noon, where he summoned his remaining five ninken to find out which way he went. Once they found it they took off at incredible speeds, the dogs in front while Pakkun stayed at Kakashi side to translate. "I'm surprised the kid could get this far so fast, how long do you think he ran before stopping back there?"

Kakashi shock his head. "I don't know, but his body shouldn't be able to keep up with that kind of stress. He got what, a half-hour, hour tops, head start last night, and we just now got here. You said he was gone an hour or two before we got there, so if he actually slept, we're talking speeds that could give Gai a run for his money. The only way I can figure this is even possible is that he's using chakra, and a lot of it, but if he is, he shouldn't be able to see well enough to maneuver around trees and shrubs." There was a bark from a ways ahead and it was Pakkun's turn to shake his head. "What is it?"

"Seems you were right about him not being able to see very well, they just found an imprint of him in a tree."

They sped up a little and found the five other ninken sitting at the base of a large oak. There, about an inch into the trunk, was an indent of a small person. Looking upon it, Kakashi visible eye widened. 'He was going that fast?' "Sorry guys, but I'm only going to use Pakkun to track, we're going to have to speed up quite a bit to catch him it seems and I'm don't think all of you will be able to keep up." A large gust of wind blew in the direction they were heading as the five ninken disappeared in puffs of smoke. After only fifteen minutes of running at high jonin speeds, Pakkun growled, and it got Kakashi concerned, as it was not like him. "What's wrong? Did you lose his trail?"

"No, we're still on course, but he's sped up again."

Kakashi sighed. "Then I guess I'll have to go all out on this one. You won't be able to keep up Pakkun, I'll call you out in an hour to make sure I'm still headed in the right direction." In a puff of smoke the little pug was gone. 'Hokage-sama better appreciate this, this wears me out every time.' "Kaimon open!" A large burst of chakra erupted from Kakashi as he lifted his hitai-ate revealing a crimson eye with three coma-like marks spinning around the pupil. Kakashi took off, becoming nothing but a blur against the trees.

------------------------

Naruto felt the blast of chakra, and ground to a halt. 'Seems they noticed the increase of speed, but that has to be close to a Kage level chakra amount being put off, why would the old man send someone like that after me?' He started off again at the same speed.

**'You mean besides me? There was also that bit of bragging in the note you left kit. By saying no one will catch you ensured he'd send one of the fastest people in Konoha.'**

'So Kyuubi, any ideas on how tolose them?'

'**I'm a predator kit, I don't do prey. But as a predator, I know that if this person is tracking you by scent they won't be able to at that high of speed.'**

'So what, I sit tight and let them pass me?'

'**You could, except when they did slow down they would notice the lack of scent to follow and head back this way, and they'd be in between us and our destination.'**

'Well unless you have a better idea, it's our best bet.'

**'I say we keep going, we still have a bit of a lead on them, if they start getting too close than let them pass us by and find a new route, agreed?'**

'Alright, the closer we get, the shorter the detour we might have to take.' Naruto kept up the same pace for some time, but his sprint faltered when he felt the chakra flare quickly weaken and all but disappear. 'Must have stopped to make sure they still on my trail. Now's my chance to put some more distance between us.' He ran at the pace he had started with that morning until sunset constantly keeping tabs on the chakra despite how weak it was compared to before, he stopped at the top of a hill because of the breath taking view he had. In the fading light, the sea glittered with shades of yellow, orange, and red. He could smell the salt of the sea from where he was, and his destination was in sight, the biggest port city in Hi no Kuni. A large smile spread across his face as he started down the hill.

------------------------

At the same time Kakashi and Pakkun were leaping through the trees at as fast as they afford to go after Kakashi use of the first gate. "You cut the distance by half, but he's still probably has an hour and a half lead on us, and I don't think he'll stop for the night. Even if the Kyuubi wasn't helping him, he would have known we're following him after you opened the gate."

"It doesn't really matter, if he keeps going in this direction, he reach the port city, and he won't be able to get a boat till morning. With any luck he won't change course, but we'll still have to be cautious, he's extremely fast, we don't know what he's capable of, and if he taps into the fox's power, he could **potentially (I bolded this word to hopefully avoid reviews stating something like 'there's no way he could hope to fight Kakashi even with the fox helping him' he doesn't know what Naruto's skill level is so he's stating worse case scenario.)** give me some trouble in a fight." Kakashi's pace faltered as he land on a thick branch.

Seeing this, Pakkun jumped back to him. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just need to rest a bit, the combination of Kaimon and the Sharingan just took a lot out of me." The pug nodded and sat beside the jonin.

------------------------

Naruto reached the city just before the sun completely set, and at Kyuubi's request, rented a room from a hotel near the center of the village while under a henge of a random villager that Naruto remembered being attacked by in Konoha. After he had shut the door, he dropped the henge and laid spread out on the bed. 'Hey Kyuubi, why did you have me pick a hotel near the center of the village, and not one near the water?'

**'That is where our pursuer would expect you to be, and would look there first.'**

'But if they're tracking me by scent like you think, wouldn't they be able to just follow it here?'

**'While that would be true if we were still in the woods, here in a populated area, your scent would be diminished by all of the other humans' scents. They could find a weak trail, but would be unable to determine how long ago you passed. Unless you spent a long period of time in one place, then your scent there would be stronger. Which is why you should sleep while you can, I awaken you in a few hours to leave and find something to eat before we head to the port.'**

'One last thing Kyuubi, where are we going?'

Naruto was surprised to hear the ancient fox sigh. **'To my former home.'** Curious, Naruto mentally urgedthe fox to continue.** 'Whether or not you believe me is up to you, but I was once the demonic guardian of a clan in Uzu no Kuni. Now try to sleep, I'll tell you more in the morning.'** An eager Naruto fell into a dreamless, but fitful sleep.

------------------------

Due to the stress placed on his body from the use of both the first gate and the Sharingan, Kakashi and Pakkun didn't arrive at the port village until the sky started to lighten, though the sun had yet to rise over the waves. He looked down at Pakkun as soon as they made it to the edge of the village. "He's definitely came through here, but the scent is weak, he was here hours ago."

"Can you track him?"

"Yes, but once people start moving around it's going to get a lot harder." It took them till the sun had completely risen to find a strong scent as the trail winded through several back alleys. When they did, they stood outside a small hotel. "This is the strongest scent I've found of him, and it seems fairly recent, a few hours ago maybe, he may still be here."

Kakashi nodded and as he walked in, the receptionist smiled at him, to which he gave her an eye smile. 'She's pretty cute, but this isn't the time.' "Excuse me miss, has anyone come in alone in the past four hours, someone that seemed out of place here?"

"Well, there were two men that fit that description, one looked to be a merchant, but I've never seen him in town before. He had short black hair, a kindly face, and he was really polite, he left about an hour ago. The other was a larger man with long white hair, red lines coming down from his eyes, and looked kind of like a kabuki actor came in shortly after the other man left."

"Could you tell me which rooms they used?"

"It's the same room for both of them. Normally it's against policy to give out rooms so quickly after they've been used, but due to the festival next week, the merchants that are setting up stands have rented almost every room. It's the last door on the left on the second floor." Kakashi thanked her and went to the room she mentioned and knocked.

As he heard the door handle turning, he lifted up his hitai-ate revealing the Sharingan with its three tomoes spinning slowly around the pupil. When the door opened, he came face to face with the white haired man. Kakashi sighed and covered his eye again. "What the hell Kakashi, I have a perfect view of the hot springs from my window, and you pull me away from my research to look at me with that Sharingan of yours? I know I'm amazing, but an autograph would work just as well." The man laughed a little at his own brilliance. **(In his own mind maybe.)** "All joking aside, what do you need?"

"It's Naruto Jiraiya-sama."

Kakashi saw worry pass over Jiraiya's face. "Sensei asked me to come take a look at the seal. Did something happen?"

The silver haired cyclops hung his head. "He's left the village, and he knows everything."

"And by everything you mean?"

"Kyuubi, depending on if he read the scroll he took, his parents, he has at least a few of the Hiraishin kunai, and he's taken three jutsu out of the Forbidden Scroll."

He raised an eyebrow at hearing Kakashi mention the blonde's parents sounding irritated to say the least. "And you're here because?"

"He left this hotel about an hour before you arrived, using this very room."

"Well then, that probably means he's still in town, let's see if we can find him."

Jiraiya walked past Kakashi who hurried to catch up. "There are some things you should know Jiraiya-sama, he's incredibly fast, he left the village late two nights ago and from what I can tell has been here for several hours. A Kumo jonin swears he saw him disappear without any sign of it being a Shunshin, and he's able to use the fox's power, whether unconsciously or not, but the note he left said the fox is helping him."

"Then he'll be headed for the port."

"How can you be so sure, what if he's just trying to make us believe that's where he's going? He had a cunning mind before the incident that Sandaime-sama believes they came in contact, and if Kyuubi really is helping him, it's won't be hard to believe."

"That's exactly my point, Kyuubi isn't just some dumb beast, he would know that the only place Naruto could be safe from Konoha ninja would be outside the country, and while it's not without its risks, the quickest way would be to get on a boat here."

"Shouldn't we head to the harbor then Jiraiya-sama?"

The white haired man shook his head. "The first boat doesn't leave for about another hour. I don't think he'll wait around the dock, he'll probably show up last minute." Jiraiya stopped in front of a small stand. "Since we've got some time to kill, let's grab something to eat, this looks like a good place." Jiraiya walked inside and sat down at a table, that Kakashi realized was a ramen stand, before following after him, though thoroughly confused, at least till he saw a head of familiar blond hair sitting at the counter. Kakashi made to go over to him, but Jiraiya grabbed his arm and shook his head. "Not here, there are too many people around, and if we confront him, he may draw on the fox."

As they ate, they discreetly watched the blond, and when he left the stand, they followed, until he walked into a deserted alleyway and stopped. "I know you're following me, who are you and what do you want?"

"My name's Jiraiya, and this is Kakashi. You're a long way from home gaki, and we've been asked to bring you back."

"Home? That's a laugh."

"Listen Naruto, I know why you left, and if I had to live through what you have, I wouldn't want to go back either, but there are people there who want you back."

"Like you can talk, Ojii-san told me about you, you come back maybe once every five years for a day at most, and even then it's only because you have to."

Naruto turned around and caught sight of Kakashi. 'That explains the smell of dogs.' "You look different without your mask Inu-san… the animal one anyway."

'**Kit, it's almost time for the boat to leave, and from the looks of it, this will be your only chance.'**

"Yeah, I know." Naruto sighed and noticed that the other two were looking at him with worry, or maybe like he was crazy, he couldn't tell. "As fun as it was talking to the both of you, I got to go, bye." They both felt a small build up of chakra, but Kakashi was already moving forward.

He went to grab the blond, but his hand passed right through him before fading away. "A Bunshin?" Kakashi shook his head. "No, an afterimage, the chakra we felt was probably used to increase his speed."

"With that kind of speed, he'll already be at the dock, and we'll be hard pressed to make it there before the boat leaves, even with Shunshin."

"I have to try." The white haired cyclops was gone in a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya looked towards where he knew the docks to be. 'Kushina, I hope you're right about the fox.'

-------------------------

When Kakashi appeared at the dock, he found the blonde looking right at him and waving as the boat pulled further away from the dock. Kakashi sighed because he knew he'd be able to get to the boat, but by the time he got the boy, he wouldn't have enough chakra left to get them both back to shore. He walked up to a man who was pulling in the ropes that had kept the boat against the dock. "Excuse me, but could you tell me where that boat is heading?"

"Can't say I know all of its ports, but I know that they stop in Nami no Kuni, and Mizu no Kuni."

"I see, thank you." 'Sandaime-sama isn't going to be very happy that I was unable to retrieve Naruto, and even less so that he could be heading for another Hidden Village.' Letting out another sigh, Kakashi turned and started the trek back to Konoha to give his report to the Hokage.

--------------------------

As soon as Kakashi was barely visible to him, Naruto moved from the railing to the small room he had rented on the ship. He flopped down on his bed and started up at the ceiling. 'It cost what was left of my money, but it was worth it.'

**'But was it wise kit? You now have no money to acquire food or lodging once we reach the island and it's at least a day's travel from the ship's stop to the village even at the speed you've been traveling at for the past few days, not that you'll be moving at that speed again for a little while.'**

'Why won't I be able to?'

**'Remember what I told you about what's left of my yokai settling?' He got the mental equivalent of a nod. 'Well it going to over the next few days and it seems to have picked behind your eyes as the spot to do it. It's going to be a painful process. It was pulled there along with the chakra you used to increase your vision while running.'**

'You were the one who told me to do that.'

**'I know kit and I'm sorry for what you're going to go through, but I swear to you I never meant for this to happen. I merely wished to see if you had inherited the doujutsu, which you have, but I have no way of knowing how my yokai will affect it, if at all.'**

'Will the process be done by the time we reach the island?'

**'For the most part, the pain should all but pass by then, though there may be some residual pain, at most it will be a few hours after we get off that the process should finish. Until it's time to disembark, I suggest you only leave the room at meal times. Even after the process is complete, it may still pain you slightly to use chakra for a short time.'**

'Why did you think I might have a doujutsu?'

**'Because the clan I protect in Uzu no Kuni was the Uzumaki clan. At first I chalked it up to being a coincidence, but I had to be sure, so I told you to put chakra into your eyes as you ran and I monitored them.'**

'What would have happened if I didn't have one and I put chakra into them?'

**'A normal person would probably go blind, however, I would have notified you of the damage before it became too severe that my yokai couldn't repair the damage, and with what's happening, even if you didn't have one, there's would be a possibility that you would gain something like one.'** Kyuubi paused a moment for Naruto to absorb this information before continuing. **'How you came to reside in Konoha is unknown to me as the clan was thought to have been whipped out, even by me, a few weeks before I attacked Konoha.'**

'Why did you attack, did they have something to do with the clan's destruction?'

**'I don't know about the village as a whole, but when I was summoned, only one Uzumaki was alive and he was facing an Uchiha. He was able to subdue me with his eyes, through it wasn't for long, he killed my summoner and ran off when I didn't disappear. I couldn't pick up his scent, but I knew his clan resided in Konoha, so I made my way there and you know the rest.'**

'I don't understand, why would they destroy my clan? Sure most of the ones I've met were assholes, but they don't seem like the kind of people to destroy a whole clan without a reason.'

**'Fear has motivated normally peaceful people to do things they would have never considered doing otherwise. Your doujutsu, while not being considered one of the great doujutsu can give two of them a run for their money, a fact the two clans know full well. The two are the Uchiha's Sharingan, and the Hyuga's Byakugan.'**

'What's the third and how is it better?'

**'I never said it was better kit, it's just that no one from your clan has ever faced it as it is said to have died out long ago, it was known as the Rinnegan. Now back to your Doujutsu, it is known as the Uzugan, because when it's activated, the curved lines that appear in the user's eyes start to spin making in look as though they are whirlpools, this is also where your clan name originated from. Making eye contact with someone while they are spinning allows you to hypnotize them, similar to an ability of the Sharingan. However the effectiveness of theirs is determined by how much chakra they put into it while yours is a battle of wills, if the person you're using it on has a stronger will, it won't work as well or possibly at all, so don't rely too heavily on this skill. And while the Sharingan allows them to read their opponents movements, yours allows you to see more clearly than them while moving at extreme speeds like while you were running. You can also see chakra, both outside the body and within, however unlike the Byakugan, you cannot see the chakra points, but being able to see the coils, even if it's not to the extent of the Hyuga, you are able to see any stops in the flow and correct it if you have enough control and know what you're doing, if you don't you could permanently damage a person's coils or even kill the person. Kit, I will have to monitor how or if my yokai affects your doujutsu until it's completely settled, so you may not be able to contact me until then, but I will try to keep you informed about what I observe.'**

'How will I know when to get off?'

He felt the Kyuubi smirk. **'In two days, when the ship reaches the first port, head out to the rail, you'll know when to get off, trust me. Now you should try to rest, sleep won't take away the pain, but it will help deal with it.' **Naruto locked the door before crawling into the king size bed that his room had and closed his eyes falling asleep quickly, the exhaustion from the past few days catching up with him.


End file.
